Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Book Review: Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong 1941 (By Tony Banham)

This
is a factual and blood-curdling slideshow of the eighteen days of horrifying
fighting against the Japanese in Hong Kong in the not-too-distant past.

I belong to the post-50s group who were lucky enough to be born just after the
war. While I was growing up, my mother and relatives belonging to her
generation seldom talked about their war-time experiences. It was only recently
that I heard about some traumatic personal stories told by a primary school
teacher of mine, which ignited my interest in reading books about war-time Hong
Kong. Reading "Not the Slightest Chance" had a bone-chilling effect
on me, and it makes me want to read more on the subject.

In
sum, it was a 60,000 (Japanese) against 14,000 (HK Garrison) combat, with the
latter comprising soldiers of all nationality: the British Middlesex Regiment,
the Royal Scots, the Punjabis (India), the Rajputs (India), the Royal Rifles of
Canada (Quebec), the Winnipeg Grenadiers (Manitoba) and the Hong Kong Volunteer
Defence Corps. consisting of British, Chinese locals, Free French, Russians,
Scandinavians and Americans.

The valiant men and women who sacrificed their lives (some suffering atrocious
tortures in enemies' hands) either in action during the war or later in
concentration camps in the defense of the Hong Kong population deserve our and
our past generation's utmost and lasting respect and commemoration. The fact
that the Hong Kong garrison (or at least the high-ranking officers) were well aware
that Hong Kong was in an untenable position, but nonetheless resisted the
Japanese invasion with dauntless courage, makes this part of Hong Kong's
history especially poignant.

The
book just makes me ponder as to why the Chinese Communists and Nationalists
were conspicuously absent from the scene of the battleground. Hopefully other
books about the 1941 battle that I’m going to read will shine a light.